In his final Big East Cross Country Championship, fifth-year Liam Murphy cruised to a first-place finish, earning his second straight individual Big East title. Behind him was junior Marco Langon in second place. The men’s cross country team won the Big East Championship title on Friday, Nov. 1, in Leesburg, VA.
Senior Sadie Sigfstead led the women’s team, finishing fourth out of a crowded field. The first seven Wildcats across the finish line were all among the top 25 overall in a field of 100 runners. The women’s team finished fourth of 11.
After falling short and finishing second as a team last season, the men sought revenge to return the Big East title to the Main Line. The men finished with 35 points. Butler finished second with 41 points, with Georgetown third with 70 points.
Murphy defended his individual Big East title, finishing the 8,000-meter course in 23:12.83. Murphy is only the third Wildcat to win multiple cross country Big East individual titles, joining Bobby Curtis and Patrick Tiernan
“A lot of kids come through the program and they’re good enough to be with the best of all of us in the program over the history, but you’ve got to have the it-factor which is the determination and the commitment,” O’Sullivan said. “I told him I can’t want it for him. it’s too hard of a sport to do if you don’t want it for yourself and [Murphy] wanted it enough and I think that was the difference.”
The only runner within Murphy’s range was Langon, who finished second with a time of 23:28.27. This marks the third time in school history that two Wildcats finished one and two at the Big East Championships.
The rest of Villanova’s five scoring runners finished in the top 18. Redshirt freshman Bailey Habler finished in fourth place (23:58.35). Senior Devon Comber finished 10th place in 24:14.48. Redshirt freshman CJ Sullivan came in 18th in 24:36.22 to round out the scoring runners and all-conference performers.
Villanova has recorded seven straight years with at least five All-Big East honorees. The men’s coaching staff, which included O’Sullivan, Matthew Valeriani and Xian Shively, was awarded coaching staff of the year.
“It’s special to me because I think it’s special to Matt [Valeriani] or Xian [Shivley] who’s helping the staff this year,” O’Sullivan said. “It kind of becomes memories.”
With a strong core returning for the women, they delivered a fourth-place team finish on the 6,000-meter course.
Sigfstead finished first at Nuttycombe early this year and has been improving her efforts throughout her senior season. Her fourth-place finish in 19:56.25 marked her third career Big East cross country top-five finish.
The four other runners who rounded out the Wildcats’ scoring five were all within a minute of each other and finished in the top 25.
Seniors Emma McGill ran a 20:41.51 to finish, and Margaret Carroll finished 19th in 20:58.90. Senior Emily Robinson finished in 22nd (21:17.00). Freshman Rosie Shay was right behind Robinson in 23rd, running a 21:17.46.
“[Shay] keeps getting better every week,” head coach Gina Procaccio said. “She is really dialed in, she works hard and she competes hard.”
The women are working to return to normal now that injured runners have returned to good health.
“Our best team performance is going to be when [McGill] gets back to herself and when [Vanasse] gets back to herself,” Procaccio said.
The men and women begin preparations for the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals, aiming to lock in a spot at the National Championship race. Mid-Atlantic Regionals take place on Friday, Nov. 15 at Penn State.
